The Collector of Worlds
ABOUT
THE BOOK
The Collector of Worlds is a meditation on the extraordinary life of infamous explorer Sir Richard Burton. The first westerner to make the hajj to Mecca, he also discovered the source of the Nile with Speke. His translation of the Arabian Nights is one of the great moments in the encounter between Islam and the West, that scandalised his contemporaries with its salty eroticism.
Troyanov’s novel does full justice to this great, controversial mediator between cultures. The book imagines his encounter with India as a young officer, and brings to life his trials and travels through the eyes of his Indian servant, the Sharif of Mecca and the former slave who guided Burton to the Nile.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR William
Hobson
William Hobson is primarily known as a translator of French literature, notably translating several Inspector Maigret novels by Georges Simenon for Penguin Books and the memoir Who I Am by Charlotte Rampling. He is sometimes confused with the 19th-century naval officer/first governor of NZ or the economist J.A. Hobson.
William Hobson is primarily known as a translator of French literature, notably translating several Inspector Maigret novels by Georges Simenon for Penguin Books and the memoir Who I Am by Charlotte Rampling. He is sometimes confused with the 19th-century naval officer/first governor of NZ or the economist J.A. Hobson.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
The fascinating life of Sir Richard Burton brought to life in biographical fiction at its best. Creative narrative techniques, a novel with many layers, a historical novel, exciting and intelligent.